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The secret

Below this paragraph is a link to an article by a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of the Iraq war. It's from ARMY magazine, published by the Association of the United States Army, and it may be the best-written article on Iraq and the Iraqi people I've read since the war began. I ask that you save the link, put it aside, find the time to read it, and share it with anyone you know who has an opinion about this war. Many of the people whose opinions I respect in this area (including several people I discussed it with while in Iraq two weeks ago), feel that this article should be required reading throughout both the government and military. Many more wish the seven central points in the article were better understood by American decision-makers years ago. I'd love to hear from those of you who take the time to read it.

The Modern Seven Pillars of Iraq

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Early Nightly is up

Everything old is new again, as Brian points out in today's vlog, referring to Al Gore and executive privelege -- both back in the news and on tonight's broadcast.
And Richard Engel's documentary airs tonight at 10ET on MSNBC -- Brian encourages everyone to watch.
Click here to watch the vlog

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MOVING PIECES

I imagine our broadcast rundown could change once or twice between our afternoon editorial meeting and airtime.  Some of it will depend on the statement the President is due to give when he lands at the White House late this afternoon.

We'll cover the U.S. Attorney flap (today's numerous moving parts) and the health news on the Alzheimer's front.  I have to be abbreviated here because I must head out to the newsroom and get on it.  Also in the broadcast tonight: Campbell Brown has an interesting interview with Gov. Schwarzenegger of California, Ann Curry reports from Sudan. Ron Allen will continue our series on immigration and Lisa Myers has a story from Washington that may outrage some folks.

Our buddy Richard Engel is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight, an appearance to promote his Wednesday night documentary on MSNBC [click to see a video preview].  The reviews have been fantastic and the material is very personal -- so we're all tremendously pleased to see him receive the widespread attention his work has always deserved. I'm constantly touched by those who write asking us to keep him here -- pull his Passport if we must -- and keep him safe.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast.

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog.

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Back at work

Between our week in Iraq, and a week away with my family, it has been a while. First, allow me to thank my pal Campbell Brown for filling in, and for doing her usual superb job. At a later date, I plan to share some residual notes from our travels in Iraq -- including some recommended reading. One link that cannot wait another day is the blog of Michael Yon. Michael is a Special Forces veteran who is now a unilateral embedded journalist. His dispatches are the most true-to-life that I've ever encountered -- raw writing from the soldier's point of view. He is best-known for one in particular, called Gates of Fire, a gripping account of a firefight that required him to briefly revert from journalist back to soldier in order to save American lives. I had the pleasure of getting to know him on this trip, and it is easy to see why he enjoys near-rock-star status among members of the military, both active and retired. This past trip, for some reason, was the toughest to shake -- and is very much still with me. I still carry with me the battle token I was given by the Assistant Division Commander in the First Cav, and my daily perusal of the casualty list from Iraq has me concerned that one of the sergeants that General Downing and I spent time with has since been killed in action. I met another collection of extraordinary American soldiers in Iraq, and since I owe my life to them in a very basic way, my wife and I paused frequently during our family getaway last week to count our many blessings.

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Brian recaps his Iraq trip

Brian will be along shortly with his daily missive, but if you missed his appearance on MSNBC's all-day coverage of the Iraq war anniversary, you can click here to watch. He talks a great deal about his recent trip and how it will inform his reporting going forward.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast from New York tonight, where he'll be joined by NBC's Richard Engel to discuss the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. Richard's "War Zone Diary" airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. EDT on MSNBC. (Click for a video preview.)

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog.

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Sudan's president speaks

We just finished an unprecedented two-hour, no-holds-barred interview with President al-Bashir. He was emphatic that the world misunderstands what is happening in Darfur. We will air this interview on Nightly News, TODAY and Dateline this week, and will post it as soon as we can here on MSNBC.com.

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a great challenge in sudan

How does one interview a man accused of unleashing genocide?

Flying now to Sudan, in a matter of hours I am to come face to face with President Omar al-Bashir, whom the world lays most of the blame for the atrocities in Darfur.

Ann Curry and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir
Photo by Antoine Sanfuentes, NBC News

It was al-Bashir, international observers say, who armed Arab militias to put down a rebellion among the black African tribes in Sudan's Darfur region, encouraging old racial hatreds to burn out of control across the region.  The toll is estimated at more than a thousand villages burned, more than 200,000 people killed and 2.5 million others displaced.  The violence has bled across Sudan's western border into Chad, and it's southern border into the Central African Republic, theatening an entire region.

It is a war now complicated by rebels on all sides, and even global warming, as the drying of lands in the north drives Arabs south into African tribal territories.

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4 YEARS LATER

Tomorrow marks the four-year anniversary of the war in Iraq.  Insurgent attacks continue… and the deaths of at least 7 more U.S. soldiers were announced.  We’ll look at the cost of this war... and Tom Aspell will report from Baghdad. (See our complete online coverage here.)

John Yang will be at the White House covering the war at home.  Thousands take to the streets across the country in protest of the war… while lawmakers debate the future over this morning’s news talk shows.  We’ll also talk to CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent, John Harwood.

Also tonight, Peter Alexander will have an update on today’s high gas prices, along with a look ahead.

Jim Maceda has an inside look of Baghdad’s makeshift medical centers.  Iraqi’s continue to struggle to get even the BASIC medical care… Now US Army Medics care for civilians as part of a new effort to win over the hearts and minds of Iraqi’s by tending to broken bodies.

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